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Original poster

shaving babies hair off - does it make it thicker?

25 replies

jennifersofia · 03/05/2009 20:04

I know this is common among some asian communities (but surely their babies would tend to have plentiful hair anyway, even if it was unshaved?) - do you think that it can actually help make the hair thicker/ more plentiful?

OP posts:

HecatesTwopenceworth · 03/05/2009 20:04

no, I don't.

MrsMattie · 03/05/2009 20:05

No. What an odd suggestion.

Vaguely · 03/05/2009 20:07

i think it might appear thicker maybe
ive never heard it suggested tbh (or never taken it in at least)
but people say that shaving legs and pits makes the hair thicker dont they. and thats to do with the ends being blunter and sharper, no?

LackaDAISYcal · 03/05/2009 20:07

Why would it?

PheasantPluckersSon · 03/05/2009 20:07

Shaving/ grading the hair gets rid of the wispy ends and creates a blunt end on the hair which gives the illusion of thicker hair. Doesn't encourage extra hair to grow though. Babies should have wispy fluffy hair.

nickytwotimes · 03/05/2009 20:09

No it doesn't make any difference, just as having your hair cut doesn't make it grow back faster.
One of my Asian friends suggested it for baldy ds, but I decided against it!

nancy75 · 03/05/2009 20:09

i have heard of this before, but dont see how it would work, shaving your hair anywhere does not stimulate hair growth. also cant imagine that a baby would be very happy to have hair clippers/razor anywhere near them.

Original poster

jennifersofia · 03/05/2009 20:14

Logically I can see that it wouldn't work, but my dd has such wispy hair (which is absolutely lovely now, but not so great in my firstborn who is now 8) that I keep thinking 'but what if it did make it thicker?'

OP posts:

TheNatty · 03/05/2009 20:14

i have heard this before, and i dont think it would work.
tis one of those very odd old wives tales i think, much like the one about potatos in pregnancy causing colic.

TheProvincialLady · 03/05/2009 20:15

I doubt it would and TBH I can't think of anything sadder than caring enough about the thickness of a baby's hair - a BABY FFS - to shave its poor little head.

Vaguely · 03/05/2009 20:19

oh i doubt anyone shaving a baby's head would do it in such a way as to upset the baby; i wouldnt assume that any parent with a shaven headed baby was some kind of monster.

Original poster

jennifersofia · 03/05/2009 20:19

It is not that I think she would be more beautiful if she had thicker hair, it is just that in my eldest it has bothered her that her hair is extremely fine and simply does not grow very much at all. I remember her at 3 years old pleading to have her hair in a bunch but there was almost no hair there to make it work.
When people have shaved the babies hair it is done using clippers, not a razor, and it does not hurt the baby.

OP posts:

KingCanuteIAm · 03/05/2009 20:20

Trimming the ends of hair to get rid of the whispy bits (as said above) makes it appear thicker. Shaving does not make hair grow thicker.

Think about it, balding men shave their heads, does the hair grow back thicker? Blokes shave their heads for fashion, does it grow back thicker?

I am not sure if/why people in asian communities do this but I would suspect it is more religion/tradition/cleanliness than thickness and fullness!

Vaguely · 03/05/2009 20:20

now ear piercing on a baby... thats Not Nice.
im sure two parents could shave a babys head in the bath without them even knowing anything was going on.

TheProvincialLady · 03/05/2009 21:09

No no I don't assume anyone shaving a baby's head would be a monster, of course not. I suppose I get cross at the uncomfortable things people make their babies wear/gel on hair/ear piercing etc and thought that this was yet another thing of that kind. Sorry to have jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Lmccrean · 03/05/2009 22:16

My friend is from Bolivia, and its tradition there to do it. Her kids have very thick hair, but that could just be their genes!

Vaguely · 04/05/2009 00:19

and i am sorry TPL for overstating my response; didnt mean to pick on you!

CandleQueen · 04/05/2009 00:29

DS2 was born with a mop of long black hair. After 6 weeks it was so long we had to cut it with clippers (he had eczema behind his ears and the hair was getting stuck in it).
Underneath the dark hair was much lighter hair. Now (at 9.5 months) he had fine whispy blonde hair, and lots of it. But not as much as his "first" hair.

SOLOisMeredithGrey · 04/05/2009 01:18

My mum and her sisters had/have fine 'nothingy' hair and mums younger sister was scalded on her head as a very young child. She had to have her hair shaved off and it became beautifully thick when it grew back. Mum wishes she had such locks!

I was going to shave Dd's hair off to thicken it up, but couldn't make up my mind as I didn't want her soft curls turning into thick afro type hair(like her fathers hair). Her hair, although fine still, is becoming more full looking, so I think I did the right thing.

I believe that it does help thicken the hair up, just don't really know why

bruffin · 04/05/2009 03:30

I am half greek cypriot,my english mum told me that the greek cypriots used to shave babies heads because they believed it would make the hair grow back thick and curly.

Rriley1991 · 10/07/2019 00:23

I shaved my 10 month old sons hair last week because it was getting in his face and growing different lengths all over I didn't make him completely bald I did it with a number 5 it's growing back but I wouldn't say thicker but growing back at 1 length I regretted it as soon as I shaved his hair I hope it grows back the same to any parent who is planning to do it don't shave it maybe just trim with comb and scissors

Fluffycloudland77 · 13/07/2019 16:04

Try it. Nothing ventured etc.

Freshchapter · 29/07/2019 19:40

Hi all,

Human logic is limited so logical theories are not always right. Science is unlimited but we only know so much.

Like fruits are good for you but keep consuming them like that and you will end up with high blood glucose.
Shaving the baby hair (razor) definitely makes it thicker. The brain/immune system just naturally makes it thick, it’s like why we have pollen allergy.

Science is a contradiction loop, what they said years ago, years later they say different.

Freshchapter · 30/07/2019 00:12

If balding men shaved hair it will not grow quicker because their brain/immune system has already adapted.
Shaving babies hair when they are newborn up until the first year will have thicker hair guaranteed. Likewise get your baby to eat or taste everything a few times (consumable foods I mean) by the age of 3 and they will have a high chance not to get allergic reaction to that food. Later on in life the brain/immune system controls us not us control them that’s because you have to get it adapted in the first place not when your older!
This is ancient ways going back to when we lived in the jungle concrete land.
We’re so regulated when pregnant and giving birth and beyond and yet it’s more dangerous this day and age but before people were less regulated and kids were less ill less diseases.

Freshchapter · 30/07/2019 00:13

not concrete lands

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